PREFRONTAL LOBOTOMY
The Problem of Schizophrenia
WALTER FREEMAN M. D., PH. D.1, and
JAMES W. WATTS M. D., F. A. C. S.1
1 The Department of Neurology, George Washington University.
1. Prefrontal lobotomy is less successful in schizophrenics than in certain types of patients who have preserved better contact with reality. Nevertheless, the operation offers definite hope for those who are still fighting their disease.
2. While many chronic patients cannot be discharged from hospitals, their care is greatly simplified because of their new objective outlook on life and pleasure in living.
3. Prefrontal lobotomy bleaches the affect attached to the ego and turns the patient's interest away from himself toward the outside world.
4. Prefrontal lobotomy is the procedure of last resort. This does not mean, however, that it should be delayed until emotional deterioration is well advanced.
